The Immigration Reform bill aims to boost border security, fix legal immigration and worker programs, require all employers to check their workers’ legal status and offer eventual citizenship to the estimated 11 million immigrants already living in the country illegally.

“There’s no reason we can’t begin to fix our immigration system so that we won’t make this problem worse. But the bill that’s being presented is unfair to those who came here legally. It will cost Americans trillions of dollars. … If you consider all the factors related to the amnesty – and, believe me, this is comprehensive – that it will have a negative long-term impact on our gross domestic product.”

A potential loophole in the current Immigration Reform bill would allow businesses would also benefit from $3,000 per year per person incentive to hire a newly minted legal immigrant over a US citizen. The reason this works out is because employers won’t be required to provide health insurance for these new legal immigrants nor will they have to pay the hefty $3,000 fine since they’re not eligible under Obamacare anyway. This loophole also means newly legal immigrants would also be a better hire for full-time work, while others might find their hours slashed to under 30 per week.

Republicans supporting the Immigration Reform bill are already facing a backlash similar to what happened after the 2007 Immigration Reform bill failed to be passed. Former Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) describes how bad the Immigration Reform debate became:

“I’ve been through this battle, and it’s ugly. My phones were jammed for three weeks and I got three death threats, one of which I turned over to the FBI. So it’s rough business.”

The 2007 Immigration Reform bill was estimated back then to cost $2.6 trillion, while the new version is slightly slimmer at $2 trillion. Overall, the rallying cry against the Immigration Reform bill can be summarized in one word: amnesty. Many US citizens share the perception that it’s unfair to essentially forgive a crime and then give the benefits of citizenship without a penalty being paid. But Republicans like Marco Rubio dispute this is what will happen.

What do you think about the Immigration Reform bill as it currently stands?